• Bon Voyage!

      Hello Paris, here I come! I’m writing this during my 7.5 hour layover in Canada (ughhh). After this, Iceland, then finally Paris! I’m so excited and thankful for this opportunity, and I still can’t believe this is really happening! It’s amazing watching hundreds of people from around the world in this giant airport! Hopefully I will be writing on this blog more regularly once I get settled in to my new Parisian digs, so be on the lookout! You can also find near-daily snippets of my life on Instagram @clarinetistinparis au revoir!

  • One month to go! (and my visa story)

    This time exactly one month from now, I will be aboard an airplane en route to Paris! (with a few inconvenient and long layovers; at least I can say I’ve visited Iceland!) It seems so surreal that it’s finally happening. The past few months have been a whirlwind of planning and organizing every detail, which included a super last-minute visa appointment in Atlanta. Word of advice for any visa-hopefuls: START EARLY! I know that you’ve probably read that in every visa guide, but I cannot stress this enough (pun intended). I had my documents together for my consulate appointment, and when my Campus France application was FINALLY processed, I checked…

  • Da capo

    For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Jenny Maclay, or Jenny Clarinet, as my friends call me.  As you might have guessed, I’m a clarinetist. I’ve been playing clarinet for about sixteen years now, and it is the most all-consuming, incredible, stressful, exciting, daunting, frustrating, enjoyable element of my life. Ever since I began playing when I was ten, it’s hard to remember my life without music – friends I made in band, school band trips, All State auditions, late-night practice sessions, recitals/performances/competitions – it always seems like my memories are centered around clarinet.  My clarinet and I have grown together in a symbiotic way, and…